PUBH632 Public Health Law and Policy 

For this assessment task, students will analyse the development, advocacy, implementation and evaluation of a contemporary health policy. In analysing the policy process, students will be required to identify and discuss the nature and size of the problem, and elevation to the public agenda; historical development; and the wider social, economic and political factors influencing the policy development process. Students will also be expected to examine the main actors involved in advocating for and influencing the policy, critique the implementation and evaluation status of the policy, and demonstrate knowledge of theoretical policy frameworks.

Students are required to select a contemporary health policy of interest to them. However, they will need to choose a policy topic that they have not selected in Assignment 2.

Your arguments and analysis must be supported by citing peer-reviewed academic literature, credible government and non-government organisation sources, and/or official statistical resources (e.g. ABS, AIHW, OECD and WHO) as appropriate.

Due date: Thursday 24 October 2024 (6.00 pm)

Weighting: 50%

Length and/or format: 3,000 words +/- 10% (including in-text citations but

excluding reference list and attachments)

Purpose: To enable students to critically evaluate and apply policy and law processes to a particular public health intervention

Learning outcomes assessed: 2, 3, 4

How to submit: via Canvas; include cover sheet with name, student number, title and word count

Return of assignment: Marks and feedback will be returned to students via

Canvas

Assessment criteria: See marking rubric below
 

Instructions

The major policy essay provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate knowledge and skills in policy analysis, development, advocacy, implementation and evaluation, although the relative balance between each element might vary depending on the policy topic. Students are also expected to demonstrate a knowledge of and familiarity with theoretical policy frameworks.

In this assignment you will select a contemporary health policy of interest to you (Refer to Canvas for a possible list of topics). However, you need to choose a policy topic that is different from the topic you submitted in Assignment 2. For instance, if you selected “Safe injecting centres” for Assignment 2 then you cannot select this topic for analysis in Assignment 3.

For this assessment task, you will analyse the policy making process: development, advocacy, implementation and evaluation. Students will be required to:

• identify and discuss the nature and size of the problem, and its elevation to the public agenda;
• examine the origin and development of the policy issue;
• analyse the wider social, economic and political factors that have influenced the development of this policy;
• interpret and apply relevant policy theories and frameworks to the development, implementation and evaluation of the policy;
• assess the main actors involved in advocating for and influencing the policy; and
• examine whether the policy was implemented and evaluated; policy instruments used; barriers and challenges encountered; reviews and revisions; and success or otherwise of intended policy objectives.

Possible topics will be explored during the tutorial sessions scheduled for weeks 10, 11 and 12, if required. Some topics are discouraged because they have been covered extensively in previous assignments and tutorial activities; each student is strongly urged to seek the LiC’s / tutor’s advice in relation to the topic and the way they propose to address the topic.

Presentation

The assignment should follow an essay-style format with an introduction, body and conclusion. Headings and sub-headings may be used to better organise and sign- post your ideas and arguments but are not mandatory. Note, use of headings will contribute to the word count.
 

Style requirements

The essay must be written in Times New Roman, 12 font. Use 1.5 line spacing.

Please insert a cover page that includes your name, student number and title of assignment and word count. Also ensure page numbers are included in the essay.

Word limit for written assignments

The word limit for written assignments is plus or minus 10% the specified word limit. Words over this limit will not be considered for marking. You must include the actual word count on the cover sheet of your assignment. Please note, the reference list and appendices are excluded from the word count, while in-text citations are included.

Referencing

APA7 is the required referencing style for this assessment task. Please ensure that you are familiar with the formatting and usage requirements for this style. The Academic Skills Unit and Library have resources to help with referencing.

Academic integrity

You have the responsibility to submit only work which is your own, or which properly acknowledges the thoughts, ideas, findings and/or work of others. The Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy and the Academic Misconduct Procedures are available from the website. Please read them, and note that cheating, plagiarism, collusion, recycling of assignments and misrepresentation are not acceptable. In addition, the use of Artificial Intelligence and third parties are also not permitted and viewed as serious academic misconduct. Penalties for academic misconduct can vary in severity and can include being excluded from the course.

Turnitin:

The Turnitin application (a text-matching tool) will be used in this unit, in order to enable:

• students to improve their academic writing by identifying possible areas of poor citation and referencing in their written work; and
• teaching staff to identify areas of possible plagiarism in students’ written work.

While Turnitin can help in identifying problems with plagiarism, avoiding plagiarism is more important. Information on avoiding plagiarism is available from the Academic Skills Unit.

For any assignment that has been created to allow submission through Turnitin (check the Assignment submission details for each assessment task), you should submit your draft well in advance of the due date (ideally, several days before) to ensure that you have time to work on any issues identified by Turnitin. On the assignment due date, teachers will have access to your final submission and the Turnitin Originality Report.
 

Please note that electronic marking, SpeedGrader, is used in this unit using Turnitin. Turnitin will be used as a means of submitting, marking and returning assessment tasks and so a text matching percentage will appear on your submission automatically.

Assessment Policies and Procedures

You must read the Assessment Policy and Assessment Procedures in the University Handbook: they include rules on deadlines; penalties for late submission; extensions; and special consideration. If you have any queries on Assessment Policy, please see your Lecturer in Charge.

Please note that:

1. any numerical marks returned to students are provisional and subject to moderation;
2. students will not be given access to overall aggregated marks for a unit, or overall unit grade calculated by SpeedGrader in Canvas; and
3. students will be given a final mark and grade for their units after moderation is concluded and official grades are released after the end of semester.

Extensions and special consideration

If you cannot complete an assessment due to unforeseen and or difficult circumstances, you may be eligible for an Extension or Special Consideration. Completed application forms (all pages) and appropriate supporting documentary evidence (e.g. medical certificate; student declaration) must be submitted by email to:

Applications for extensions or special consideration should be submitted in line with the Assessment Policy, Assessment Procedures and Special Consideration Procedures.

Please note, marks will be deducted for late submission of assignments (without an approved extension or special consideration), as per the University’s policy. The policy states: “Assessment tasks submitted after the due or extended date will incur, for each whole or part of a calendar day that the work is overdue, a 5% penalty of the maximum marks available for that assessment task up to a maximum of 15%.

Assessment tasks received more than three calendar days after the due or extended date will not be allocated a mark.”
 

Marking criteria

In line with ACU’s Assessment Policy, all assessment marking and grading must be criterion-referenced and use standards-based grading. Assessment criteria and standards are related to unit learning outcomes. Student performance on a task is evaluated against each criterion, and according to the set standards of achievement for that criterion. Assessment criteria and standards for this task are provided in the following rubric. Each criterion is marked according to a five-point standard, from “poor” to “excellent”, with a descriptor for each standard. Your final mark for the task reflects evaluation against all criteria.

See the rubric below for the marking criteria.

Learning outcomes assessed:

1. Demonstrate an integrated understanding of the law and policy making processes, especially the contribution of public health practitioners and other key actors;
2. Critically apply legislative and policy responses to complex public health challenges; and
3. Evaluate and critique law and policy making processes in contemporary areas of public health programmes and interventions.
    

APPENDIX 3: Marking rubric - Assessment task 3 (Major essay: Policy analysis)

Total marks available: 100

Task weighting for unit: 50%